1
as in hopeless
not capable of being cured or reformed
an irretrievable drug addict who had wasted a once-promising life
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in irreparable
not capable of being repaired, regained, or undone
this is just an irretrievable mess, so let's start all over again
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of irretrievable
Alcaraz broke the Italian twice, winning the set with an incredible backhand flick from what looked like an irretrievable position and cupping his ear.
—
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 13 July 2025
There is a genuinely irretrievable, ephemeral, low-res version of the movie.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 17 May 2025
Lawmakers warn that evidence critical to future war crimes investigations may be irretrievable.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
And there was data that was lost, that was irretrievable.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irretrievable
Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 13 July 2025
There is a genuinely irretrievable, ephemeral, low-res version of the movie.
—Rachel Handler, Vulture, 17 May 2025
Lawmakers warn that evidence critical to future war crimes investigations may be irretrievable.
—Josh Hammer, Newsweek, 20 Mar. 2025
And there was data that was lost, that was irretrievable.
—Wesley Stenzel, EW.com, 2 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for irretrievable
Recent Examples of Synonyms for irretrievable
Adjective
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In a legal career that spanned more than four decades, Rosenbaum took on some of South Florida’s toughest, most hopeless cases.—
Rafael Olmeda,
Sun Sentinel,
5 Mar. 2026
-
Every two years, would-be governors, senators, lawmakers, political newcomers and hopeless hopefuls snake through the second floor of the Capitol, taking a very public step toward power.—
Greg Bluestein,
AJC.com,
28 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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This is a harsher version of Rooster’s insistence that anyone can be rehabilitated, one that acknowledges that some damage is irreparable, and that the people who benefit from infinite patience and forgiveness are usually men of privilege.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
5 Mar. 2026
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But three other justices said the court’s decision was not a sign of impatience but rather a reflection of its judgment about the risk of irreparable harm to the parents.—
Ella Lee,
The Hill,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Arcellx is developing a new class of immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
23 Feb. 2026
-
Arcellx focuses on immunotherapies for patients with cancer and others with incurable diseases.—
Scott Schnipper,
CNBC,
23 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Cohen treats workers who breathed in high amounts of this material in the mines for decades, causing irreversible damage.—
Meghan Schiller,
CBS News,
3 Mar. 2026
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Polio can attack the nervous system and can lead to irreversible paralysis and occasionally death due to respiratory failure.—
Alexis Wilkinson,
New Yorker,
2 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Broadly speaking, this is probably not irrecoverable damage to the ecosystem.—
Joan Meiners,
AZCentral.com,
19 July 2025
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Aviation experts have said a preliminary report from India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) raised questions over whether one of the pilots of Air India flight 171 cut off fuel to the Boeing 787's engines seconds after takeoff, leading to an irrecoverable situation.—
Dan Catchpole,
USA Today,
18 July 2025
Adjective
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This leads to what may be a unrecoverable confession from Emma that adds tension to the lead-up to their nuptials.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
3 Feb. 2026
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If the government stays closed, the blame will fall on those fighting to protect an agency operating at an unrecoverable trust deficit, pushing out transparent propaganda that Republican politicians are struggling to coherently defend.—
Logan McMillen,
Washington Post,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Many of the country’s top psychiatric groups warn that there is no empirical standard for determining whether a mental-health condition is irremediable.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
4 Feb. 2026
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The cases in Blair’s book, however gruesome, catalogue methods that our species has used to manage terror, sorrow, and disbelief in the face of the irremediable and unpredictable arrival of death.—
Rivka Galchen,
New Yorker,
7 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Terrible for me, an incorrigible snoop of other people’s phones, but probably a good thing for society at large.—
David Pierce,
The Verge,
28 Feb. 2026
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But the Coop had one thing that failed cooperatives didn’t: Joe Holtz, a gregarious 22-year-old from Sheepshead Bay with a mind for numbers and an incorrigible idealism.—
The Editors,
Curbed,
15 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Irretrievable.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/irretrievable. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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